Featured Cover Matjacic, Lidija; Seah, Martin P.; Trindade, Gustavo F. ...
Surface and interface analysis,
April 2022, 2022-04-00, 20220401, Volume:
54, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
The cover image is based on the Article Martin P Seah MBE – Shining a Light on Surface Chemical Analysis by Ian Gilmore et al., https://doi.org/sia.7058.
Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are a group of emerging micro-pollutants causing detrimental effects on living organisms even at low doses. Previous investigations have confirmed ...the presence of PPCPs in the environment at hazardous levels, mainly due to the inefficiency of conventional wastewater treatment plants (CWWTPs). Their stable structure induces longer persistence in the environment. Microalgae are currently used to bioremediate numerous pollutants of different characteristics and properties released from the domestic, industrial, agricultural, and farm sectors. CO2 mitigation during culture and the use of biomass as feedstock for biodiesel or biofuel production are, briefly, other benefits of microalgae-mediated treatment over CWWTPs. This review provides a comprehensive summary of recent literature, an overview of approaches and treatment systems, and breakthrough in the field of algal-mediated removal of PPCPs in wastewater treatment processes. The mechanisms involved in phycoremediation, along with their experimental approaches, have been discussed in detail. Factors influencing the removal of PPCPs from aqueous media are comprehensively described and assessed. A comparative study on microalgal strains is analyzed for a more efficient implementation of future processes. The role of microalgae to mitigate the most severe environmental impacts of PPCPs and the generation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is discussed. Also, a detailed assessment of recent research on potential toxic effects of PPCPs on microalgae was conducted. The current review highlights microalgae as a promising and sustainable approach to efficiently bio-transform or bio-adsorb PPCPs.
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•Removal performances of PPCPs depend on the pollutant and microalgal species.•Immobilized microalgae are more efficient than suspended in removing PPCPs.•Acclimatization of microalgae is key to improve the removal performances of PPCPs.•Hybrid microalgae culture technique decreases PPCPs toxicity towards microalgae.
Pharmaceutical pollution of the world's rivers Wilkinson, John L; Boxall, Alistair B A; Kolpin, Dana W ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
02/2022, Volume:
119, Issue:
8
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Environmental exposure to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) can have negative effects on the health of ecosystems and humans. While numerous studies have monitored APIs in rivers, these employ ...different analytical methods, measure different APIs, and have ignored many of the countries of the world. This makes it difficult to quantify the scale of the problem from a global perspective. Furthermore, comparison of the existing data, generated for different studies/regions/continents, is challenging due to the vast differences between the analytical methodologies employed. Here, we present a global-scale study of API pollution in 258 of the world's rivers, representing the environmental influence of 471.4 million people across 137 geographic regions. Samples were obtained from 1,052 locations in 104 countries (representing all continents and 36 countries not previously studied for API contamination) and analyzed for 61 APIs. Highest cumulative API concentrations were observed in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia, and South America. The most contaminated sites were in low- to middle-income countries and were associated with areas with poor wastewater and waste management infrastructure and pharmaceutical manufacturing. The most frequently detected APIs were carbamazepine, metformin, and caffeine (a compound also arising from lifestyle use), which were detected at over half of the sites monitored. Concentrations of at least one API at 25.7% of the sampling sites were greater than concentrations considered safe for aquatic organisms, or which are of concern in terms of selection for antimicrobial resistance. Therefore, pharmaceutical pollution poses a global threat to environmental and human health, as well as to delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Increased synthetic chemical production and diversification in developing countries caused serious aquatic pollution worldwide with emerging organic pollutants (EOPs) detected in surface water rising ...health concerns to human and aquatic ecosystem even at low ng/L concentration with long-term exposure. The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) area serves agriculture and industry for people in eastern China. However, the current knowledge on the occurrence and ecological risk of diverse EOPs which are present in the aquatic environment is limited. This study was to investigate the complexity and diversity of EOPs in surface water from 28 sampling sites, which were selected to represent urban, industrial or agriculture areas in the YRD area. In total 484 chemicals were analyze by a target screening approach using liquid chromatography coupled to high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS). 181 out of 484 EOPs were detected at least one site in the YRD area, and 44 analytes, mostly industrial chemicals and pesticides, were ubiquitous at all sampling sites. Most EOPs were industrial chemicals with 1H-benzotriazole and organophosphate flame retardants (PFRs) as the chemicals with highest concentrations. For 21 pesticides, mostly herbicides, maximum concentrations of atrazine and isoproturon were above the annual average environmental quality standards of Europe. Amantadine and DEET were the dominant pharmceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the YRD area. Compared to urban areas (mostly in Qinhuai River), chemical profiles from industrial areas were more complex. Industrial activities likely have a strong impact on the composition of chemical mixtures in surface water from the YRD area. ISO E Super, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor and clotrimazole detected in this study are potentially persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals. Furthermore, results of risk assessment showed that hazard quotients of dimethyldioctadecylammonium, didecyldimethylammonium and octocrylene were higher than one and occur frequently, which indicates possibly adverse effects on fish species in the YRD area.
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•The surface waters in the YRD area are polluted with a vast range of predominantly industrial EOPs.•44 EOPs detected in surface water from YRD area everywhere, most of them were industrial chemicals and pesticides.•ISO E Super, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor and clotrimazole are potential persistent and bioaccumulative chemicals.•Dimethyldioctadecylammonium, didecyldimethylammonium and octocrylene show high risks to aquatic organisms.
Microplastic pollution has received increased attention recently due to potential threat to marine biota and human health. This study reports microplastic (MP) content in brown shrimp (Metapenaeus ...monocerous) and tiger shrimp (Penaeus monodon) inhabiting in the shallow and offshore waters of the Northern Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. Gastrointestinal tract (GT) of shrimps (n = 150) were examined for MPs following alkali digestion, microscopic observation and chemical analysis by micro-Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscope (μFTIR). A total of 33 and 39 MP items were found in P. monodon and M. monocerous, averaging 3.40 ± 1.23 and 3.87 ± 1.05 items/g GT, respectively. Among various shapes, types and colours of MP, filament (57–58%), fiber (32–57%) and black (48–51%) were dominant amongst the various particles identified. Tiger shrimp had high numbers (23 items) of larger size fractions of MPs (1–5 mm) but brown shrimp had high numbers (15 items) of smaller MPs (250–500 μm), and μ-FTIR data confirmed 13 particles of polyamide-6 and 6 particles of rayon polymers. These results provide a baseline of MP contamination in seafood from Bangladesh that should be useful for future monitoring efforts.
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•MP items in two shrimps were ranged 33–39 with a mean abundance 3.40–3.87 items/g GT.•MP particles were dominated by black fibers and filament.•MPs were composed of polyamide-6 and rayon polymers.•MPs may transfer to humans as shrimps are often eaten without removing the intestines.
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•Fe/Mn oxides loaded biochar could enhance the adsorption of tetracycline.•γ-Fe2O3 and MnO2 were the main crystalline phases of Fe/Mn oxides.•Fe/Mn oxides play complex acid and base ...roles to enhance the tetracycline adsorption.•Adsorption of tetracycline follow Elovich kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm.
A Fe/Mn oxides loaded biochar (FeMn-BC) was prepared to enhance the adsorption of tetracycline (TC). γ-Fe2O3 and MnO2 were assigned to the Fe and Mn oxides, respectively. The enhanced adsorption of TC was dominated by the loaded γ-Fe2O3 and MnO2. According to Akaike-Information-Criteria evaluation, Elovich kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models could best describe the adsorption with a maximum capacity of 14.24 mg/g. During adsorption process, the γ-Fe2O3 and MnO2 hydrolyzed into hydroxides (FeOOH and MnOOH) which acted as bases to complex with TC2− ion under alkaline condition (pH = 11). After the adsorption, the concentrations of leached Fe and Mn could meet the requirements PRC standards GB13456-2012 and GB8978-1996, respectively. The FeMn-BC had ~24% on TC removal (initial concentration of 20 mg/L) after four-cycles regeneration. The FeMn-BC was also available for TC adsorptions in column tests and actual wastewater.
The environmental impact of silver nanoparticles (AgNP) has become a topic of interest recently, this is due to the fact that AgNPs have been included in numerous consumer products including ...textiles, medical products, domestic appliances, food containers, cosmetics, paints and nano-functionalised plastics. The production, use and disposal of these AgNP containing products are potential routes for environmental exposure. These concerns have led to a number of studies investigating the release of particles from nano-functionalised products, the detection of the particles in the aquatic environment and the potential environmental toxicology of these AgNPs to aquatic organisms. The overall aim of this review is to examine methods for the capture and detection of AgNPs, potential toxicity and transmission routes in the aquatic environment.
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•AgNPs are likely to be released into the environment during the lifecycle of consumer products.•The complex environmental fate of silver nanoparticles in aquatic systems is influenced by numerous factors.•The detection and characterisation of silver nanoparticles in environmental waters is difficult.•Variability in Ag and AgNP characteristics eluted to the environment leads to uncertainty in ecotoxicological assessments.•A standardised approach to toxicity testing on silver nanomaterials is needed to comprehensively assess their toxicity.
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